Wednesday

A Springfield Police Department officer "flagged" for being untruthful is the only officer in the agency required to wear a body camera during all of his on-duty activities.

The revelation about Officer Ryan Stone was made during Police Chief Rick Lewis's testimony earlier this week in Lane County Circuit Court, regarding some pre-trial motions for a woman accused of intoxicated driving in October 2017.

The woman, Alyson Anderson, is on trial for driving under the influence of intoxicants, unlawful possession of methamphetamine and recklessly endangering another person after her arrest by Oregon State Police.

The drug recognition expert who evaluated her three hours after OSP's initial traffic stop was Stone.

Stone was placed on an eight-month paid administrative leave last year while he was investigated internally and criminally for excessive use of force in another case. He was brought back to the police department in December after the district attorney's office declined to file charges. An arbitrator later overturned Stone's four-day disciplinary suspension without pay that was imposed by Lewis after the internal investigation. Stone is now suing the city of Springfield, accusing the department of retaliation for whistle-blowing activities.

After Stone returned, Springfield police Lt. Scott McKee was placed on paid administrative leave while his internal investigation of Stone is reviewed. He remains on leave.

Lewis and McKee were subpoenaed by the defense in Anderson's case to testify Tuesday.

The questioning revolved around whether Stone's testimony is credible in the DUII case, given he has been so-called "Brady listed," a term meaning he's been flagged in a system that indicates he has previously been found to have been untruthful. It comes from a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Brady v. Maryland, which requires prosecutors to turn over exculpatory evidence, including if an officer has lied in an official capacity. A Brady-listed officer is therefore not considered to be a credible witness in a case. The district attorney's office is required to notify defense attorneys of this.

Lewis told Lane County Circuit Court Judge Brad Cascagnette on Tuesday before a jury had been selected that Stone is a Brady officer and the district attorney will not take cases from Stone unless video of the encounter is provided.

District Attorney Patty Perlow confirmed that statement Wednesday morning, sharing a letter she sent Lewis in July 2018.

Lewis also said he believes Stone needs to wear a body camera because his work should be scrutinized. But Lewis stopped short of calling Stone untruthful. He said Stone has a reputation with some officers who believe Stone is untruthful, but other officers believe Stone is truthful.

During testimony, Lewis seemed caught in the middle of a difficult situation involving two of his employees and a lawsuit. He did not offer a strong opinion about Stone's past behavior. The prosecutor in the case, Kira Stanley, later told the judge that Lewis "hedged and stayed somewhere in the middle" and therefore his testimony should be considered insufficient. Cascagnette reserved judgement as to whether Lewis could be called to testify in front of a jury. If Lewis is allowed to testify, he likely only will be asked to speak on the topic of Stone's reputation and not share Lewis's own opinion.

McKee was called to testify after Lewis. He testified he believes Stone has a reputation of being untruthful and also holds that personal belief. He doesn't trust Stone's spoken or written word, he said, but acknowledged he does not speak for the department as a whole. McKee told the court he requested the investigation into the internal investigation he conducted after McKee's integrity was called into question during arbitration. That investigation resulted in McKee being placed on administrative leave, something McKee told the court was unnecessary. When asked by Stanley if he felt he had been unfairly targeted because of his Stone investigation, McKee said "certainly."

If McKee is called to testify before the jury in Anderson's case, he will be asked to speak to his opinion of Stone, but not to Stone's reputation, Cascagnette said.

For his part, Stone spoke in court about what a drug recognition expert evaluation involves and how he conducted one on Anderson that night in October 2017. He said the exam took approximately one hour and that Anderson was cooperative. The defense team did not have any questions for Stone.

Springfield police do not have body-worn cameras and have previously said they did not have the budget to purchase them. A message to Lewis sent late Tuesday was not immediately returned.

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